PIA Press Release2006/10/31

P4-B transaxial hi-way to connect entire Cebu province

Cebu City (31 October) -- A P4-B transaxial highway that will unite the entire province of Cebu will be constructed by next year under a five-year plan program.

Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez disclosed that the transaxial highway also dubbed as the 'unity highway' aims to connect the municipality of Santander in the South to the town of Daan Bantayan in the North.

The unity highway will be a major project of the Provincial Government that is expected to fast track the economic growth of Cebu and reverse migration from urban to rural.

Sanchez said it is costly for the province to maintain the entire 600-km. coastal road with the problem of road right-of-way while any plan for road expansion is not feasible as the existing roads are narrow and already congested due to increasing population.

The vice-governor bared the highway will merely connect the existing roads citing the present roads from Santander to Argao in the south, Balamban (northwest) to Pinamungahan (southwest) and Tuburan to Compostela in the northern part. The construction of the transaxial highway will not be that costly as an alignment will just be done to connect these existing roads and come up with the unity highway, Sanchez said.

The transaxial highway will be a four-lane major thoroughfare that is also considered as a speed highway with no intersection and will save a lot of travel time, Sanchez added.

Construction of the major highway is likewise a holistic approach to entice the people to go back to the countryside as rural development is boosted, Sanchez further added.

Building good roads will be a major come-on for the industries to invest in the province especially in the countrysides while there are two Malaysian companies that have already expressed interest in constructing the transaxial highway, according to Sanchez.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo identified infrastructure as a vital tool to development particularly as the government envisions the Philippines to be among the First Nations by year 2020 as economic reforms have already been set in place. (PIA-Cebu/FCR) [top]